While some artists use a paintbrush and a canvas, there are some who are putting everyday objects together and filming their usage.
On Screen, a series by the Blaffer Art Museum, presented “Object Labors” on Thursday. The screening showed “Floatage: River Jamuna” and “Turning” by Vivan Sundaram and “The Unstable Object” by Daniel Eisenberg.
“Both artists’ work circle in different areas but show the making and labor of objects that are already made,” said Amy Powell, the program’s curator.
Vivan Sundaram is from Simla, India, but has been all over the world. “Floatage: River Jamuna,” Sundaram’s first film, is a short video of a raft made by plastic bottles floating in the Jamuna River.
In “Turning,” objects that are considered as garbage are made into pieces of art. As the camera frame shows many of these pieces, a gust of wind blows down some of the artwork.
In contrast, Eisenberg’s work shows three objects being made in odd angles. The first object is the making of Volkswagen vehicles by machines. The machines were the ones doing most of the work while humans were just checking up on them.
As the film continues, a middle class factory shows human and machine working together to make office clocks. The last factory shown is in Turkey, where workers are hand-making drum symbols with little machinery.
Advertising sophomore Victoria Lepham said she was amazed on how simple objects can capture the mind of the audience. She said she’s never imagined anything could be art — even everyday objects.
“It’s crazy knowing that many materialistic objects can be considered as art,” Lepham said. “Both artists put the spotlight on these objects, and it makes the mind wonder.”
Human versus mechanical production is showed throughout the videos to educate the audience on the different types of classes and objects.
“I think we learned how different objects are made and how they are put in different usage debating on their cultural context,” Powell said.